Open Thread - Thurs 04 May 2023 - Nothing Much!
Nothing Much!
It's been a heck of a bad week for me so far, although the last day or so has shaped up better. Nothing dire for the world, just a financial mess that had me worried and unable to sleep for a night or two. It's all straightened out now, pheww. So this thread is gonna just be a couple of good things that happened to me with wild animals recently.
Last Friday I went out the greenhouse door onto the stoop and there, with its head held about 6 inches above the stoop, looking at me and flicking its long tongue, was a snake. It was very cute, I thought. So I waved my fingers at it, and told it to get along, there were some bugs needing eating somewhere, I was sure. It flickered its tongue again and then slithered off happily through the grass. This is western WA, so we've got no poisonous snakes, and this was just a two foot long, common gartersnake. I like them, for some reason.
Common Puget Sound Gartersnake - picture from the Burke Museum
Around dusk a few days ago I was going out to the garden to check on the newly planted lettuce and brassicas. Right after planting Hubby built a fence around the planted area (just chicken wire and some rebar) to keep the rabbits out. I saw a rabbit, which had obviously been heading towards the fence to check it out. It looked at me, I looked at it. I said, 'Ain't gonna chase you or hurt you, we've got the plant bed fenced!'. It wiggled its little puff of a tail in agreement and hopped back into the field.
Last week I heard this strange, enchanting, whistle-like bird call/song. I'd never heard it before, that I can remember. I looked up (I was weeding in the garden, of course) and three Northern Harriers flew over. They were only about 20 feet above the ground, if that. One of them was doing that whistle-like song. They were all playing, I swear they were playing, as they chased one another and did head over heels twirls in the sky. Slowly, they looped higher and higher and then disappeared. I'd never seen Northern Harriers around here before although their range includes the Puget Sound. It was wonderful!
Female Harrier in Flight from the Wikipedia article
While clearing a bed in the garden the other day, one that's under an apple tree, I encountered a deposit of old apple leaves. They were in a circle, about 4-6 inches in diameter. There were no left over plants from last year, or weeds, in the circle. I shrugged, moved the leaves a bit, and kept weeding nearby. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the leaves moving in three places. So, I carefully moved the leaves aside. There were baby rodents (wood rats? voles?) in the pile of leaves! They were fully furred, about 2 1/2 inches long not including a short 3/4 inch tail, so I think they were almost ready to leave 'mom' and strike out on their own. I know they were rodents and I shouldn't have cared about them - they eat our produce at times. We've got cats to take 'care' of them, and Jaska used to hunt rodents and eat them as a snack! But, they were so cute and just.... sigh. I carefully covered them up with the leaves again, and moved away. By the next morning they were gone. Either mom had moved them, they had taken off on their own, or something had eaten them (although there was no evidence of that). But at least it wasn't me that hurt them!
And something fun to listen to:
So, thanks for reading and here's the open thread - and remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving and take my attention off the stressful stuff from earlier this week!
Comments
Hey Hey!
Hope it's going well for everyone. It is going better for me, so I hope to be able to get some work in today, and, I gotta go 'out' and do 'stuff' - like getting my mom's car from the repair shop and so on. Fun, fun!
We've had a day or two of really nice, 'summer' type weather. It's going back into cool and rain today/tomorrow, but for a while we had a taste of summer. The animals and plants love it. I think the grass grew like 2 inches in a day!
Post what's up with you, and what you have been noticing, learning, reading, etc. We wanna know!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning...
I enjoyed your animal encounter stories...snakes and hawks and voles. Voles play hell with sweet potatoes, but over the years we have fewer and fewer. We pour dilute castor oil in any holes we encounter.
Hope your garden is doing well. We've been having cool (40 F) mornings, so we still haven't planted the sweet potato slips. Tomatoes and pepper have not liked the cool but they are growing nicely. Although this week has been dry, we've been getting rains pretty regular.
Mowing season is now in full swing. We've got a few fields full of lyre leaf sage in bloom along with Senecio that I won't mow (bush hog) till after seed set some time in June.
Thanks for the OT and I hope everyone has a good day!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Looked out at the tomatoes in the greenhouse today...
We'd planted them up into 8 inch pots about a week or 10 days ago. They are now a foot to 14 inches tall, very skinny and only a few leaves/branches as they grow, but at least half of them already have a flower! I think they season will be good. Unlike you, I think, we grow the tomatoes inside a hoop or a green house. That way, we have harvest until, about November. If we don't, they get done in during the first frost of the fall, which is normally in early September. I've had frosts here in late June before too, which stunt the toms and peppers. It's a weird location!
We leave our fields full of wildflowers or whatever is growing until late May/early June. The goats eat some of them, but not a lot. Late May/early June is when everything dries out, so I can mow anyways! The lawn has been mowed several times already, it's like 1 inch a day in growth, I swear.
I like the castor oil idea for voles. We haven't too much problem with voles, so far. I think it's because the fields are so open and we have bald eagles, hawks, harriers!, coyotes, foxes, etc all come and take 'care' of the rodents. The worst we get from the rodents is they eat the toms and peppers in the hoop house (where they are 'protected') if we don't let the cats in there.
Have a great weekend! and thanks for the great comment!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Critters aplenty
Sounds like you are having fun with the little ones. We have seen several lately.
The hummers have returned as well as the vociferous catbirds - my do they sing!
Turkeys, skunks, possums, deer, cats, mice and rabbits all checking in. Plus the usual
songbirds, raptors and squirrels. Must be spring time.
Thanks for the OT and de-stress
question everything
Springtime Indeed!
We've had the hummers back for about a month. Hubby fills their feeders about every 4 days right now! The swallows are finally back. They are about a month late, because it was so damned cold. I love the swallows and am very glad they are back. They do a good job on the small flying bugs!
No turkeys here. We do have our chickens though
Have a great weekend, and thanks for the comment!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
This may be too philosophical for this early in the day
It is an interesting lecture about the definition of *woke*
https://twitter.com/StucknDaMid/status/1652560486909775872?s=20
question everything
"Woke" is the past tense of "wake". A wake is a ceremony
wherein somebody who is probably but not presumed dead is placed on a table or something in a somewhat smallish room and invited attendees party their brains out and make plentiful racket (possibly using base rackets). Should the suspect waken, the wake was a success and they too may join the party. Should the suspect fail to waken, the wake was a success and the attendees, upon recovering, are entitled to plant the suspect in the designated marble orchard. For further detial, closely peruse "Finnegan's Wake" by some Irish dude.
be well and have a good one
edit: fixed typo in "ceremony"
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
base racket should be base rackett n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
One of the best pieces of
parody I've ever read was "Hornigan's Wake", which was a send-up of Finnegan. I memorized it at the time, but now 5+ decades later I can only only remember the first and the last stanzas. Still, it's enough to give a feel for it:
There was a good bit in the middle about a "Miss Moffish who sat on heer toffish, throwing heer curdes his whey", but it isn't as funny out of context.
I wonder if I can still find it out there now. A quick Seargoog doesn't turn up anything- I'll have to dig harder...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Please correct me if I'm misinterperting
Woke == socialism and/or marxism?
I didn't listen to the entire thing, maybe in the end he turned it into a parody. If so, I'd apologize but I don't think so.
Does he, whomever he is, think people will buy it?
yeah, I think you got it
superficially at least. My understanding was he was attempting to broaden
the concept of *woke* to larger spheres. Mao, Marx, capitalism and present
white power is difficult to tie together with current cultural context. He made a
decent attempt. It's very complicated. The red wash and identity politics are
pertinent.
question everything
Complicated indeed!
Thanks for this good answer/explanation! Me, I'm just not very 'woke'. But I am very 'socialist'. Everyone should be allowed to be whoever they want to be, unless they are hurting others (like child molesters, rapists, murderers, abusers...). Doesn't matter what they identify as, what clothes they wear (or don't wear) and how they look. It's what they do and can do and think that matters.
So, for example, sports should be determined by size and strength. Not by gender or sex. All the small types compete against each other. All the large types do the same. Male, female, sometimes male, sometimes female, dresses male, dresses female, doesn't matter. Just size and strength. Some categories, like the smaller size, will be mostly born female at birth. Some will be mostly born male at birth. All categories are valuable and matter. Works for me!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good question...
I didn't listen to the entire speech either. Got distracted. Thanks for this good question!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Thanks very much
Now perhaps I might offer my definition.
Woke is a short term that doesn't take up much space that can be used in any way to encourage a conflict between people living in the figurative slave quarters to keep them from identifying those who are keeping them in those quarters.
Eg, why does HE get to sleep in the warmer part of the room? Why does SHE get a better mattress?
Heaven forbid we should ask why we are in slave quarters as "free" people.
Sorry, a bit jaded this morning.
(addendum) Socialism, marxism are terms used the same way woke is.
That's a great summary...
I'm gonna use it when talking to my friends, if you don't mind...
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
It seems to me
that the definition has shifted, and I'm quite convinced that this shift was done deliberately as part of the overall propagandization efforts heaped upon us by our Owners.
As originally used, I recall that it indicated that one had abruptly awakened to the fact that government lies, has always lied, and will always lie: as if awakening from the somnolescent state in which Joe and Mary Sixpack must be so carefully maintained. To that extent, "woke" started out as in the case of Neo "awakening" in the original Matrix. I still refer to Joe and Mary as "coppertops", based upon that.
That is altogether too powerful as an image for it to be allowed to stand. It had to be diluted, redefined, parodied, mocked, and otherwise destroyed. So it was carefully redirected to apply to topics that can easily be used to divide, as opposed to uniting: the
democratsmediaschoolsliberals turning kids gay and taking their guns while having them chant "Hail Mao" and that sort of thing, shouted at the top of their lungs by legions of Karens. Once properly belittled, the term and its original image completely loses its value.My personal awakening was completed by the destruction of Bernie in 2016. But as a student of the cold war, it had been going on for a lot longer than that. That finally cemented my understanding that there really *is* no functional political solution- and that may be the greatest real "wokeness" of them all. But your mileage may vary...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good morning Sima, et.y'all. It is good that you
preserved the vole nest, if only temporarily, because they will grow up to be food for the harriers, should they remain around. They're, in turn, good for keeping rodents and such under control. It occurred to me that under a tree is a great spot for a nest, even a leafless one, for harriers and kites hunt the open fields, so the tree provides cover. Do you get kites up there?
Garter snakes are cool. So are gopher snakes if there is enough prey about to sustain one.
I'm currently tied up with the computer and various "getting it together" type chores and projects. It somehow petrifies the mind and narrows the focus to where one cannot really think much outside the carton(s) so to speak. Liked your musical selection all the same.
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I hope the computer thing resolves itself for you
As I've said, my "WTF!" moment came when I saw that my sessions with my email hosts (gmail was one of them) stayed open long after I wanted them to be.
Another screaming moment came this AM when I read on one of our snooze sites:
(on edit) fixed exclamation.
Hadn't thought about voles as food for the harriers...
But that makes sense and it might explain why I saw those harriers flying over so close to the ground, right over the garden. They were rodent hunting and playing and courting and whatever!
I think kites range a bit further south than here, but I'm not sure. We get hawks, kestrels, really small hawk-types, owls, bald eagles, harriers.
We don't get gopher snakes here, at least that I've seen. Those would be cool too. Garter snakes, king snakes... that what we have here.
As for computers, I will soon be tied up too. I need to upgrade my system to Fedora 38. I'm gonna do a complete reinstall, which is gonna be 'tough'. I'm not up on the new file systems, commands and so on! So, I'm right with you on the computer stuff.
I'm trying to reduce the 'junk' in my closets, cabinets, desk, etc as well. That 'getting it together' type of chore is soul destroying at times. Especially when I can't remember why I have something or kept something...
Enjoy the music. It's got me dancing around, at least!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
I haven't had any
wild animal encounters in a couple of weeks, other than the squirrels in my office yard. The block where my office is located is the last green area in the 6 blocks town square. We have gobs of squirrels and mocking birds.
Well, I signed up for an hour long legal ed course entitled, "Have robot lawyers finally arrived?"
How depressing.
At least I am only one more workday away from a fun weekend.
The heavy rains will start this evening and continue until tomorrow evening. Like I say, the fun will start Saturday.
Hope all gardens are growing!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Robot Lawyers would be very depressing...
I do NOT like the idea. But I'm old, right? That's why, right? /sarcasm
Squirrels and mockingbirds count as wildlife. Squirrels don't come here much, not enough trees and way too much open fields. I hope the heavy rains aren't too bad! And have a great Saturday!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Hi all,
Hi all, Hi Sima, Hope it's all good out there.
Those Gartersnakes are neat. The San Francisco Garter is the prettiest of them all, a highly endemic subspecies, to just the SF peninsula, south to north of Sta. Cruz area methinks. There is much dispute re the taxonomy as some feel all or many western Gartersnakes should be lumped into one species. There are only a couple thousand believed to exist, and it was one of the first species listed as endangered.
There are a few great pics of the beauty here.
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/28367-Thamnophis-sirtalis-tetrataenia
Sounds a neat Harrier encounter, any near-bird experience is usually great. It is mate selection time of year, and often there is competition. For a lot of aerial species flight displays are a way females decide which male is best fit, and a regular pair bond behavior. With Harriers the male is gray above, the female brown, so they are easy to tell which sex one is. Though the first year males a year old are not 'gray ghosts' yet and admixed of brown with some grayish coming in.
I'm so old I learned them as Marsh Hawk, before the U.S. changed the name to match the rest of the Harriers in the world. They are often found over marshes, but any field will do, coursing back and forth and dropping down on prey suddenly from just a foot over the vegetation is their tactic. I have watched them flush Meadowlarks, and grab one out of the sky as it gained altitude to make escape. They are very deft in the air. The facial disks are unique among our hawks. It is believed they serve the same purpose as the disks on some owls faces, to act as a parabola focusing the sound at the ear hole. This allows them to know where the mouse is in the reeds, even though it can't see it. Neat birds! The white band on rump makes them easy to ID at a distance. This is a female or imm. below.
standin' on a wingtip
Gotta get back at the salt mine... Have good ones all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Great Info, thank you!
Like you, I really like the garter snakes. Always feel kinda proud when I see one sunning on our compost heap or in the garden... I'm not sure they should be lumped into one species, but what do I know? Can they interbreed? Then probably they should? Edited to add: Wow, I grew up on the southern limits of the San Francisco garter snake territory: the Santa Cruz Mountains. I probably played with some of those snakes as a kid. What a gorgeous snake!
The info you know about the harrier is wonderful. Thanks for sharing it! My encounter was strange, as I never really saw the backs of the birds, just heard the calls and saw their undersides (and quick spins of the back as they twirled around). I had to look them up online, and in my old audubon bird book to learn what kind of birds they were. I've never seen them here before! However, this would be a good place for them, open fields, marshes, lots of rodent type critters...
The pictures you posted are great. The one showing the underside of the bird is what I saw. Anyway, have fun getting out of the salt mine tomorrow and thanks for the good info!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so